left right left right right right right. whooooo. scary.

It was a beautiful, beautiful, gorgeous day. The air was fresh and breezy, the sky was blue and I really can't believe it is the last day of July. Surely Japan was a lot hotter when I left last year??
There is a mountain called Sangane-san in Hazu. It is about 330m high, so not so high at all. But the view from the mountain towards the sea, hmmm yum yum. On a sunny day like this, you can see the two peninsulars in the distance. Every thing is still, everything moves slowly, and I get hungry. So I turn around towards the mountain.
And that's when I see all these random statues built on top of the mountain. Whooooo. These statues and memorials, were, in fact, built without any permission and are actually illegal. They were placed there in memory of the soldiers who died during WW2. And there are hundreds of them. There is even a Kannon goddess shrine called 'Phillipine-kannon', which is there to ease the spirits of the soldiers (japanese soldiers) who fought in the Phillipines.
The problem here is that they were all built by the people who truly truly believe Japan was not wrong. Drive down the road for another 3minutes, and you will find the memorial of one of the most serious war criminal of WW2.
I am in no position to comment on this. Except that it is probably the only thing that freaks me out in this picturesque village. The worst thing is that most people in this town don't even know that these things exist on top of the mountain. whoa.

Carbs. I need carbs.

So today I will write about how Japanese people take carbs.

1. RICE. This is what Japanese rice in a rice cooker, i.e. my rice cooker, looks like. Observe very carefully.


2. TOAST BREAD. In short, Japanese bread is weird. Very weird. Very thick and very soft. It is said that they want to imitate the texture of rice cakes. My opinion is, why don't I just eat rice cakes if I want to feel the texture of rice cakes!!!! Oh well.

OK I will correct this blog from how Japanese people take carbs to how I take carbs. Plus potatoes.

Tokyo is.

I took the fast train and went to tokyo. I got off the train at Tokyo station. And i reflected on the fact that the population of the station was probably 10 times more dense than Hazu. This is what big cities look like:


I went there to attend a conference/festival of children's folk performances because I am weird. It was absolutely gorgeous. These kids were from Tokuno-shima, an Island in the south, not too far from Okinawa. The culture of the southern part of Japan is so very different from the main island, I feel that it is a lot more expressive. What they are singing is 'Shimauta', Songs of the islands.

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Children play such an important role in festivals, it makes them a lot more enjoyable.
So that was my weekend but it didn't finish there. I took the train back to Toyohashi, arrived in the city right next to Hazu, to see the fireworks. There is something so special about the fireworks in Japan. It isn't about partying. It lasted for 1hour and a half. People enjoyed each one. and applauded.


Summer in Japan is hot, but I think people know how to get through the heat by entertaining them with such beautiful beautiful events as these.

"土の音" The sound of earth. AKA there is no such thing as a coincidence. AKA some more food.

Even in a small town like Hazu, there are people who are rich enough to own a gallery inside their company. This very 80's habit of companies buying expensive artworks still exists around here, and today I went to a reception party for an exhibition at INATEC.
The artist is called 渡辺　泰幸Yasuyuki Watanabe, an installation artist. He makes everything out of pottery. He turns everything into instruments. He places them in the forest, in the park, everywhere. Except that today he put them inside the conference hall in an heavy industry factory. Oh well.

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It made me think. Most people there were completely lost. The sad thing was that I didn't see anyone from the citizens of Hazu. Art, as we call it, is still something far from where people live. Even the artists like him, who tries to make art together with everyone, is an exclusive asset. That, makes me sad.


But of course I had a lovely dinner at a Tofu-restaurant called 豆蔵"Mamezo", which made me feel so much better. Imagine. There are restaurants only for Tofu. Even the desserts are made of Tofu. Beat that.

OK so maybe we DO eat a lot of raw fish.

And who said Japanese people can't handle alcohol?????????

Today I was taken to a pub where they serve food from Hokkaido. Yes. The cool thing about many 'trendy' pubs in Japan is that they are all divided into private rooms. And there is food. Food galore. I don't think I had so much fish as today for such a long time. And when you go out for a 'NOMIKAI'(a drinking party), you are bound to see red-faced men. And that's when I realise; 'thank God I am not 100% Japanese' (ooopla. No offence). At least my face doesn't change colours. Or is that a bad thing?

People drink so much in Japan. Especially men. It is amazing how quickly they drink. But the best thing for me was, tonight, that I walked down the railway when I got off the train. This is what happens in Hazu, Japan. No one cares.

We do not eat sushi every day.

But it is good to live by the sea. Going to a local restaurant is always fun around here, because I see names of some exotic fish that I have never heard of before on the menu all the time. Today, I ate blowfish for the first time. The fact that I am writing this means that it didn't kill me.
The thing is though, that it tastes like normal fish. But don't tell anyone about it.
OK so in Japan we eat and drink normal things too. Like wasps in Sake. I mean wasps as in wasps. The ones that kill people. That, just to let you know, was in the same restaurant. That, I didn't drink.



"Caulerpa lentillifera J. Agardh"

is the academic name for "sea grapes海ブドウ"　which is a speciality of Okinawa. They are not actually grapes. It is a type of seaweed. I wish people hadn't come up with the name "sea grapes" because it is far too cute. I'd like to go to Okinawa just to go to a market there and say "I'd like 200gs of Caulerpa lentillifera J. Agardh please." It tastes like...hmm it doesn't really taste like anything. It has a weird crunchy texture to it and it goes well with soysauce. Says the over-friendly waitress.

So we say good bye to the clouds.

And I love it because it is OFFICIAL. The rain season "tsu-yu　梅雨”is officially over today. Everything is official in Japan. The cherry blossoms, rain, snow, sun, beach. It is officially summer.

Et voila ma vie à la campagne.

I live in a small town in Aichi, Japan. It is a small, small town. Hence the sky is blue and the sea is big. There is nothing much going on here. But then this is also where everything is happening. People live here. I live here too. I eat, see, work and sleep here. C'est tout.